Chapter 202: I’m Going to Fuck Melanie.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 202: I’m Going to Fuck Melanie.
'I have a rough idea of what's going on.'
The reason Su-jin and Yu-min suddenly vanished to prepare for a power-up event.
It’s a classic trope—when the protagonist gets stronger, the companions feel a sense of rivalry or inadequacy and resolve to improve themselves. Something like that.
I could grasp the entire situation just by interpreting the literal meaning of the words in the information window.
'The Saintess, too... and Melanie...'
The man who gave the Hero and his fiancé a true education.
Compared to those two, it was true that the titles Yu-min and Su-jin held were relatively weak.
Since I met them early in the story's timeline, it was inevitable that their scale would be smaller.
But there was no way they would know that, which is why they immediately left to train.
'To become women worthy of me.'
I felt both grateful and sorry.
I felt like I was making them suffer for no reason.
In Yu-min's case, it was because she had only recently properly awakened her Main Skill.
But Su-jin felt like even her Main Skill fell short compared to the other heroines.
She was the only Awakener who wasn't an Always-Active type.
'Actually, not being an Always-Active type is what's normal.'
But like attracts like, and since they were around the protagonist, special people were bound to gather.
In that sense, Su-jin could be seen as a character I personally chose.
"Of course, just because it's individual training doesn't mean you should just fool around. To prevent laziness in case you don't have a specific plan, the Academy will design a personalized program for you."
Don't go rushing off right away; think it over carefully before asking for a design.
Thinking about how to become stronger on your own is also part of your education.
As soon as Jang Du-cheol finished speaking, he wrote "Self-Study" in large letters on the chalkboard and left the classroom.
Most of the students stared at the board with bewildered expressions, wondering what they were supposed to do.
They didn't have to come to the Academy, and they were told to train themselves—it was only natural they’d be flustered.
'They are only first-years, after all.'
Even if they had been attending since March, it had only been three months.
In reality, this was a time when the influence of their character-building years was still dominant.
It was similar to the situation back on Earth where students, after years of rote learning, are told to do self-directed study and just sit there blankly.
"I'll be heading out first, then. Now that I know I can leave if I submit an application in advance."
The first one to speak up in this situation was Kim Min-su.
Perhaps he was feeling full of himself because of his position as vice president, but the guy stood up abruptly from his seat.
"I have to find what I lost, after all..."
Kim Min-su glared at me as he spat out those words.
I didn't say a word; I just raised my fist. As soon as Min-su saw it, he lowered his head and scurried out of the classroom.
'I should get closer to my classmates, too.'
Since I’d been through such massive events right after entering, I didn't even know my classmates' names.
I did exchange a few words with them at the very beginning when I was trying to get close to Kim Min-su.
But if I could memorize names after just hearing them a few times, we’d already be best friends.
If I were to measure the psychological distance between me and my classmates right now...
To exaggerate a bit, it would be like the gap between a celebrity and an ordinary person.
Since we lived in completely different worlds, we didn't mix, and they probably didn't even think about trying.
'Whatever.'
It would be weird to suddenly become close now.
And it wasn't like it would happen just because I wanted it to.
Slide.
"Where are you going?"
Thankfully, a classmate spoke to me.
"To catch a water deer."
I answered honestly.
+++++++++++++
A room enclosed on all sides by steel.
Not a single ray of light entered, as there were no windows; only the light on the ceiling illuminated the room.
'It should be safe here.'
A place close to the Kaivan Korea Branch, yet the safest location.
Gimins was hiding there thoroughly, waiting for his moment.
"The investigation results are in."
"Tell me!"
Gimins brightened at the bodyguard's words.
'There's no one in this world who doesn't have a speck of dust on them if you shake them hard enough.'
If even the smallest clue was found, he could socially bury Baek Tae-yang immediately.
However, Gimins' expression gradually distorted as the bodyguard opened his mouth and spoke.
"What? You think that makes sense?!"
"That is... we found it strange as well and investigated several times, but..."
Family relations: unidentifiable. Past: unknown.
The most recent data found was from a few months ago, when he awakened while fighting an Awakener at a bar.
Other than that, there was almost no information.
Even if there was, it was all information already public to the world, and nothing was significant.
It was as if they were investigating a ghost.
"No, how can a person live... how can they not leave a single trace? What is he! What the hell is this guy—"
Boom! Rumble, crash!
"Hey, block him! Block him!"
"How are we supposed to block that?! We can't!"
"Run! Everyone, get out of here!"
Gimins' words were quickly drowned out by the commotion outside.
"Wha... what?! What's going on?!"
"Wait... what? He's... he's coming."
"Who's coming!"
Slam!
The steel door crumpled like a cardboard box and went flying.
A brief cloud of dust rose.
And through that dust stepped a white-haired man.
"Me. I'm saying I'm coming."
It was Baek Tae-yang.
"Man, you were really hiding deep, weren't you?"
After being beaten to a pulp by Baek Tae-yang and the articles were published.
Gimins had built a bunker and hidden away, waiting for an opportunity.
The sole reason he hadn't responded to any articles or held a separate press conference.
It was to seize the moment for a perfect counterattack.
'This is impossible.'
Setting aside how he got in here, how did he know?
As if reading that expression, Baek Tae-yang opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
"You kindly attached a navigator to me yourself."
Baek Tae-yang spoke as he walked toward Gimins without hesitation.
"I've thought about it several times. How should I deal with you? No matter how much I think about it, you seem like a one-off character, but then it feels like you might have some kind of backstory..."
"What are you talking about? What do you mean!"
What was a one-off character, and what was a backstory?
Gimins couldn't immediately process the events occurring before him.
In the world he lived in, things like this never happened.
There was a procedure for everything, a method where things were finalized after a final inspection.
Gimins, who sat at the top of that system, could not adapt to such barbaric methods.
Whether Gimins adapted or not, Baek Tae-yang continued to speak.
"I heard you guys helped the Kaivan Group? and you're using that as an excuse to push the fiancé angle... This smells way too fishy."
The timing, too.
Thump. Thump.
With every step Baek Tae-yang took, Gimins took a step back.
"Whoa!"
He eventually tripped over his own feet and fell backward, but he didn't stop retreating.
There was no need to wonder what the bodyguards were doing.
They had long since turned into mannequins, their bodies frozen stiff with tension.
"There's definitely some event planned, right? Like crashing a wedding, or revealing your dirty schemes behind the scenes."
"Wha... what are you talking about..."
Gimins stopped using informal speech.
He was terrified of Baek Tae-yang, who kept approaching while saying incomprehensible things.
The man who had beaten someone into a pulp while smiling, and who had walked around the airport dragging someone by the hair as if going for a morning stroll.
He was too terrifying.
"Doing something like that would have been fine, not bad. But you see."
One Kim Min-su is enough for that kind of crap.
Since your names are similar, I was going to see how far you'd go, but it's so frustrating I can't stand it.
Why should I drag this out when I can solve it so easily right now?
Gimins trembled like an aspen leaf at the words, which were tinged with madness.
"Just, wha-wha-what is it you want..."
"You know."
An immediate answer.
Baek Tae-yang gently set his club down next to Gimins' head.
A brief silence.
At that small action, Gimins understood everything and nodded his head violently.
"I... I won't hit on Melanie anymore. I'll can-cancel the transfer, too."
"Right. See how much better it is when you cooperate?"
With those final words, Baek Tae-yang left the area.
He was truly like a storm.
++++++++++
On the way out after getting confirmation from Gimins.
I hummed a tune and summoned Rocinante.
[Rocinante activated! Please drive safely!]
'That was easy.'
I should have done this from the start. Why did I have Kang Tae-min do a background check?
'I don't want to be dragged around anymore.'
The economic pressure was being blocked by Bogeumjari, and the violence issue didn't matter since I had recorded the bodyguard's confession after catching him.
Just having a recording of the reason and purpose for investigating me made me practically invincible.
If I said I broke in to prevent retaliation in advance, it would be resolved smoothly.
'This is the right way.'
Just as I told Gimins earlier, if I had left him alone, I would have had to move passively again.
Waiting like an idiot until he caused an incident and then handling the cleanup.
I was done with that.
'In the first place, Gimins' existence was only there to get me closer to Melanie.'
Some cliché story about catching that guy and doing this and that.
What would be the point of getting close like that?
'I can just do it.'
If I can become the protagonist and create the story myself.
It means I can move according to whatever I decide I want to do.
'I'm going to fuck Melanie.'
The time had finally come to embrace Melanie, whom I had left alone for so long.